You guys! A search for swimming suits did not end in an emotional meltdown! Hooray for positive self-body image! Let’s talk about that!

I’ve struggled for most of my life with not liking how my body looked and feeling bad about it. I’ve more or less always been on the “bigger” side (whatever that really means). I’ve had my fair share of fitting room meltdowns (in particular I remember a time at Old Navy where I tried on about a bazillion pairs of jeans and none of them fit). Even though I was active (I did gymnastic from 5-15, then dance team), due to bad eating habits and not really knowing what else I needed to do (i.e. cardio) I just felt fat. In addition, I inherited the same body shape as my Mom, who unfortunately did (and still does) project a lot of her own body image issues on to me.

Even when I started to exercise more, eat better and become more ‘toned’ (during high school), I still wasn’t completely comfortable with my body, and would never even think about buying, let alone trying on, a bikini. There was still that lingering voice inside my head (and often the very present, real voice of my mom) that kept me from that.

I’m not completely sure when it really clicked in my head, but I think it was sometime around my freshman year of college (2009). It was probably a combination of becoming a real Raging Feminist, being away from the negative talk at home, and living among a group of girls, which had both negative and positive aspects). At the same time I felt so much love and support from this new community around me, I became even more aware and frustrated with girls, friends of mine, talking about their “diet”, or lamenting that they couldn’t eat the dessert they wanted. (Side note: I now find no conversation topic more of a bummer than  someone’s depressing diet).

What really solidified my current self-image attitude was probably going crazy. It made me really realize that if someone didn’t like they way I looked, it was their problem, not mine. And if someone is going to judge me negatively for my size, my stretch marks, my haven’t-shaved-in-a-month hairy legs, then they aren’t worth my fucking time, yo. 

To sum up: love yourself, love your body, fuck the haters. Also, look at the cute swimsuits I found on sale at TJ Maxx! 

Two personal style posts in a row! I know, what is happening? (It’s just that I got a new phone and it’s connected to Google+ Instant Upload so I can be lazy and don’t have to upload pictures myself.)

Anyway, I stopped by the mall for the first time this summer to go by Sephora and I got sucked in by the sale in Chico’s. Guys, I’ll be honest: Chico’s is not my style. At all. [Caveat: they have always had amazing jewelry]. I associate Chico’s clothes with my 57 year-old aunt. They are kinda… mom clothes to me. BUT, far be it from me to pass up a ‘40% off already marked down’ clearance sale.

As soon as I spotted this green skirt I fell in love. I’m basically living in maxi dresses/skirts, especially jersey or silky ones. My Mom gave me this Britney Maxi Dress from Soma for my birthday in May, and I got this Camille Embroidered Dress from Soma as well (it’s got pockets! POCKETS!). Also, both of those are still on sale online, so y’all, get on that.

ANYWAY. Green skirt is fab, comfy but pretty, great color. Had some trouble with Chico’s crazy sizing (what is that i don’t even), but we got it done. As for the shirt, I was wearing a dress and needed a shirt to try on with the skirt, so I grabbed this one and ended up falling for it too. I admit, I’m not really an animal print fan; just not my style. But this silver/gray color makes it subtle enough that I ain’t skerred. 

Also, look at how great the coloring/lighting is in the dressing room?

Shop the look:

• Silky Crinkle Meleah Skirt (still available in blue and taupe)
Original price: $99.99, Sale price: $27.99

• Purrfect Shimmer Vivy Tank (sold out :()

  Original price: $59.99, Sale price: $17.49

I bought these shoes on sale Sunday on Bluefly.com, and yesterday at Goodwill, I found this white, embroidered dress with navy trim.

• Shoes: $38.40
• Dress: $6.99

On a completely different note, here’s a picture of me doing my best worst Katniss/Hawkeye/Merida impression. 

Saw these two girls on the right at a party last night and asked if I could take their picture for this blog. And then my Dad happened to be right there and took this picture of us 3 together. I feel like “one of these things is not like the other”, which was not entirely untrue, since the lady in the middle? Yep, she’s a model. That’s Sierra Quitiquit (on tumblr at http://wanderthisearth.tumblr.com/), a model/skier/gypsy/person way cooler than me.

I mis-heard the tumblr name of the girl on the right, but somehow I’m betting: also a model. 

Moral of the story: don’t have your picture taken next to models. This is why A: I like to be on the other side of the camera, and B: why I have so much trouble even taking pictures of myself (for person style photos).

(That bearded dude in the back is an excellent addition to the photo, no?)

Lady Noir earrings from JewelMint

Sunny Spring weather = jackpot for spotting amazing style around campus. This is Maddie and Jess, who were kind enough to let me take their picture this last Friday. I love the pattern on Jess’ dress (very Mossimo-esque, no?), the matching blue flower in her hair and the navy blue sheer button down as a cover-up.

Maddie’s look is equally as Spring-y, but with a touch of classic/retro style. Love the colored sunglasses frames and the scarf that matches the shirt. But the jean skirt and the Birkenstocks keep it from being too stuffy; perfect for campus.

Maddie’s earring board was actually what first caught my eye. She’s raising money for her service trip to Rawanda this summer my selling her handmade earrings. She also jsut found out that while she’s there she’s going to have the opportunity to teach some of the women there who are getting out of prostitution how to make earrings themselves, so they have a skill they can utilize and make money from. 

The’ye only $6 a pair, so of course I had to get some. I fell for these yellow and gold beaded hoops; so bright and spring-y.

We’ve been having a unexpected stretch of real Spring weather here in Seattle. Sun! Very little wind! Actual warmth! Awesome weather for lying around to study in the grass, and also awesome for style creativity. I have lots of upcoming posts highlighting the campus style I’ve been spotting. First though, let’s get my mediocre face out of the way.

I was sort of inspired by seeing the new Dark Shadows movie and all that amazing 70’s style, plus the late-60’s fashion being featured this season on Mad Men. So many fun, crazy patterns! So I went for a full 70’s spring look. Luckily, my Mom was a teenager during the 70’s and she’s a pack-rat like me, so she kept a lot of stuff around that I now have.

Also a hurdle for this outfit: more hair was dirty and gross and I didn’t have time to wash it, so I needed a creative and non-ugly way to hide that hot mess. The winter solution: hats. Spring solution: scarves!

• My patterned scarf was one I stole/”permanently borrowed” from my Mom. It’s got such a great ethnic-inspired colorful pattern, plus it’s long and wide enough to cover pretty much all of my hair. I also did an inside out french braid on both sides of my hair, starting from the temples, just to make sure no gross bits would sneak out during the day.
• Earrings: also, vintage, also from Mom. They are little glass vial thingys and in both of them their are real dried flowers, a daisy and a little red flower. They are so hippie and wonderful and I got a nice compliment from Hope (of the floral shoes) on them.
• The rest of the jewelry is Goodwill, hand-me-down and these from AEO.
• Shirt: also from my Mom! This is a vintage embroidered shirt my Mom got on a trip to Mexico. It’s a pretty standard style (you’ve probably seen at least one at Goodwill/thrift store) but I like that I got mine from my Mom. It’s got a nice A-line, floaty cut that is great for a warmer day when you don’t want something skin-tight.
• Sunglasses: also passed on from mom; not vintage though. Same ones from this post.
• Necklace: Not from Mom! This is an old, old Goodwill find. It’s an awesome statement pendant, with colorful enamel outlined in gold. The flowers and butterfly make it perfect for Spring, and the flowers go with the earrings.
• Jacket: Modcloth Auto Pilot Jacket ($15.99 on sale). This jacket is actually really thin, way thinner than it would appear. Not great as a winter jacket, but surprisingly good for when the wind gets a little chilly, even with the sun out. Unfortunately, the second time I put this jacket on one of the buttons came off, and now another is hanging by a thread. I can easily sew a button on, I’ve just been too lazy. But I think it looks fine - maybe even better - un-buttoned. I was inspired to do some 70’s faux-fur from collections like this  BCBG Max Azria Fall 2012 and J. Mendel Fall 2012.
• Bottom half: old wide legged Old Navy shorts that are at least 3 sizes too big, from my “bigger” days in middle or early high school. Cinched that ish up with a flowered faux-suede belt and the top of the shirt covered the awkward bunching in the front + silver Birkenstocks. 

Okay, what do y’all think of my 1970’s inspired Friday look?

It’s surprising how easy it is to cultivate the ‘WASP-y-chic’ look with only a couple of items.

• Trench Coat: Banana Republic (straight up the most expensive clothing item I have ever bought. It was 40% at Portland’s Fashion Night Out and I still agonized over the purchase for about a whole hour. Buying expensive things makes me incredibly anxious, because I should probably not be allowed to have nice things).
• Sunglasses and tan headband: pretty old and definitely very cheap. The sunglasses are ones my mom gave me because she didn’t like how big they are. Honestly, the headband is probably from Claire’s, or like, Target.

Okay, last one of mine for today. This is an old photo, as evidenced by the long hair I’m still sporting (which I kind of miss). 

• Cat-eye sunglasses: Fremont Vintage Mall, $12
• Dress: Modcloth, Graphic and Novel Dress, $15.99
• Sweater: Dillards, probably somewhere around $15? It was a Christmas present exchange.
• Short black necklace: Victorian jet beaded necklace, gift from Eccentric Aunt
• Longer sliver + red necklace: souvenir from SE Asia
• Silver accessories: gifts from mom, elephant bracelet from Thailand
• Belt: borrowed from a Lauren Conrad dress

I received my April Birchbox yesterday and was kind of disappointed. Only 5 things total (including the ‘lifestyle extra’) and no full sizes. Sad. Here’s a list of what I got:

• amika | Obliphica Nourishing Mask ~ which sounds like it’s for your face but is actually for your hair? Why would you put a mask on your hair? 
• Juice Beauty | Oil-Free Moisturizer ~ yeah, I got their ‘blemish clearing gel’ thingy in my first Birchbox and I’m pretty sure it made me break out. Allegedly this “won’t clog pores”, but I am skeptical.
• ‘Wonderstruck’ Taylor Swift perfume sample ~ on the one hand I’ve always thought the only reason to buy a celebrity’s perfume if you are a super!fan of them; on the other hand, I think if you like a scent why should you care whose name is on it or how much you like them. Anyway, I don’t hate Taylor Swift, but I’m also not a super!fan either. The scent is nice, floral and spicy, not too heavy. I wouldn’t probably ever buy a ‘full-size’ for $50 though.
• Zoya | TRUE Spring Collection ~ This is what I’m wearing in the photo. The color is called ‘Lotus’. It’s a pretty dark purple, which is an interesting choice for a Spring Collection, but it does have some pink shimmer as well. Apparently it’s non-toxic and is supposed to last “50% longer than traditional polishes”. We’ll see. I’m pretty tough/don’t worry that much about my nails; it’d just be another thing to worry about that I don’t have the energy for. I’ll update y’all to let you know if their claim is true and it can’t really stand up and last on its own.

What did everyone else get in their Boxes? Let me know! And please follow if you’d like!

Another try at some fun, eccentric eye make-up. I like using my face as a palette, as an outward expression of internal emotions. 

I don’t use stencils or anything, I just like to go with the flow and go where the design takes me. All this was done with Palladio liquid eyeliner in black shimmer (you can also order it online from Ulta and Amazon), which I picked up on a whim at Nordstrom Rack because a) it was pretty cheap, and b) I wanted to try my hand at liquid eyeliner.

Honestly, you can’t really see the ‘shimmer’ part, except in the close-up photos with a flash, but the felt tip applicator is perfect for making delicate designs like this, and even just for creating a simple cat-eye.

I was getting ready for a dance when I did this make-up, but then I decided that even if I sweated a little, it would all probably melt right down my face. So, then the challenge was to remove all that dark makeup without completely removing my foundation, and I don’t have makeup remover because I’m cheap and lazy? 

Anyway, I vaguely remembered reading about some sort of trick of using mousterizer or some other thick substance as makeup remover, and I keep a mini tub of Vaseline in my makeup kit, so I tried that, and it worked awesomely. I just slathered a really thick layer of Vaseline all around my (closed) eye, then took a cotton round or kleenex and wiped with pretty strong pressure. Eye-makeup gone like that.

You also get to admire my un-plucked eyebrows and acne scars, because I didn’t re-touch any of these, so um, suck it eyebrow nazis? 

Fun fact: I’m so pale that even wearing Bare Minerals with SPF and only lying in the sun for about 40 minutes, I still think I got a little sunburned.

I was wearing my $12 cat-eyes, new bright pink and gold chandelier earrings I got at the Fremont market yesterday, and my new AEO bag as a pillow.

[To see the unedited version, with my sucky bathroom lighting but slightly more clear details/color variation, it’s up on Flickr here]

I’ll be honest, I’ve been a little bit fixated on the Venice T from StyleMint for a while now and I finally got the chance to use a $10 off coupon, which makes it close to a reasonable price ($20 instead of $30). For me, that is still on the pricey side for just a t-shirt, but I love that the color scheme is so similar to the Prada dress both Amanda Seyfried and Hailee Steinfeld rocked last year. Plus, it includes both of the allegedly “hot” colors for spring, bright pink and ‘tangerine’.

As for StyleMint, I’m pretty disappointed. I should know by now never to trust any of the “bonus” gift things any of the Mint brands e-mail out. I made my purchase with this Get Lucky promotion, but I got totally screwed. No bonus StyleMint items,  or JewelMint or anything else. I only got a StyleMint “golden ticket” with a code for 10% off 1 item, which is basically nothing. So disappointed. Maybe I contact customer care to see what the deal is.

Anyway, on to the fun part: the styling!

Since it was a class day, I decided to stick to a pretty casual look, with mostly black accessories with a few gold accents. 

• Shorter black necklace: Victorian jet necklace. Gift from eccentric rich aunt (previously: perfume. the the future: many other things)
• The two longer strands are part of the same necklace. It’s difficult to tell, but it’s got black beads and black shells. They have the same sheen as mother  of pearl? This was a necklace I inherited from my Mum during her Spring Break Jewelry Purge and Reorganization, so I don’t know exactly where it came from, but it was probably from one of those companies that have in-home jewelry selling “parties”. 
• I’m wearing a ring and simple gold and black braclet, also from my mom, on my left hand. On the right (I didn’t get it in the picture) is an amber/gold/glass large beaded bracelet. 

Make-up wise:

•  I’ve just switched to Bare Escentals mineral make-up along with a First Aid Beauty moisturizer and it seems to be keeping my problem skin fairly clear. I just did a minimal eye with mascara, and a little bit of graphic on my lower lash line with some black dots on the outer edge. 
• I decided to do a bold lip to match my shirt. I’m not a big lip color wearer, but I got a full-size of a tarte LipSurgence™ lip tint (alternate link: for sale at sephora) in the color Amused (aka bright pink) in my March Birchbox. I actually like this stuff because it’s layerable (so you can go more sheer or heavy pink), it’s moisturizer, not stick, and it smells the mint! I hope it lasts me awhile because $23 is kinda steep for lip tint.
• I was just messing around with my hair and ended up stumbling into figuring out how to do this half-french braid thing on the side. You basically just french braid like normal starting from the temple, but you only keep holding onto one of the strands.
• I decided such a bold and bright look I should go for a bold and spicy scent, so I went for a spritz of Viva La Juicy by Juicy.

Oh, and for the bottom half, since the top is flowy and has volume, I went with my black cigarette pants. If it wasn’t raining, the shoes would be my black Ecco heeled oxfords (as it was, I had to go for the gray plaid Wellies).

I also previously reblogged a couple others styled outfits including Venice T, but the other color, in blue and green. See: Via Sterling Style, and Eat.Sleep.Wear). 

Finally, do you like my new haircut? I got a lot chopped off, including the auburn tips from my old red hair. I also got blonde highlights, which are a little too obvious for me, so I’m planning to continue Sun-in-ing it to even things out more. But I definitely like the lighter look for spring, both color-wise, and because my hair is so thick, weight-wise. Though I am a little sad that now I can’t do The Katniss braid for awhile. :(

Speaking of…

here i am in my bathroom too, with my tiara (made out of a super chunky, silver sparkly bead/ribbon necklace my mum didn’t want any more).

i am the fucking fairy princess of crazytown.